Another Person Infected on Gulf Coast Starts GoFundMe Page

I had hoped when traveling on vacation to hear fewer stories about people getting injured by and afflicted with flesh eating viruses on the beaches of the gulf coast. Sadly, this is not the case.  It's no longer just a Texas thing, which Texans need to know if their vacation is elsewhere on the coast.

Over the weekend I saw a picture of some of the most disgusting water I've ever laid eyes on. It's in Florida and I'm going to do you the favor of not sharing this image. Simply, you cannot un-see things once you've seen them. You can Google it if you want but I don't recommend it.

Now comes word that a woman has contracted the same nastiness that we seen contracted from Galveston and other Texas points. About a month ago, this woman contracted flesh eating virus on Grand Isle, Louisiana, a noted fishing village but not exactly a spring break type locale. Here she is in her own words from her GoFundMe page:

My name is Kelly Kohen Blomberg and I'm from New Orleans, LA. On May 5th I was fishing off the beach in Grand Isle and got bit my some marine animal on the top of my left foot. No one knows for sure what animal caused the injury but based on the bite mark, it might have been a shark. Although the bite itself was painful and I was bleeding profusely, that was not the end of my troubles. Apparently, open wounds are susceptible to bacteria from the ocean and I got infected by a flesh-eating bacteria. As its name suggests, the bacteria feeds on flesh and the infection spreads extremely fast, potentially leading to death. I feel fortunate that I decided to go to the hospital early enough so that the spreading of the bacteria was stopped. However, a lot of damage had already been done within 24 hrs. I've been fighting with this injury for about a month now. I was hospitalized for about 5 days and had 2 surgeries. The pain was unbearable since I had an exposed nerve in my wound. I hardly got any sleep during the time in the hospital and even now, I can barely get a couple of hours of straight sleep before the pain in my foot wakes me up. It's been an extremely challenging time. I am grateful for my mom and friends who have been helping me in simple everyday activities. However, I am not able to work and it appears that the healing process will take several weeks to months.

WDSU TV, an NBC affiliate also did a report on her situation:

Meanwhile, more on the Buda man who was infected at Port Aransas.

I am never getting in the water ever again unless it's my own bathtub. It makes me wonder how long this awful bacteria has been lingering in our waters.